


Crosshairs

by In_Dee



Series: Escorpio [2]
Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-01-13 05:30:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21238955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_Dee/pseuds/In_Dee
Summary: A routine case takes a drastic turn for the team. Suddenly, the hunters become the hunted…





	1. Chapter 1

The sound of gunfire from the other side of the building made all their heads snap up while they crouched down and took shelter behind several cars. Nell hunkered down beside him while Sam was two cars over.

Callen tapped his earwig. “Eric…” he prompted.

“Kensi and Deeks are taking fire. Tac team 2 is sending reinforcements from the west end,” Eric told them, his voice calm despite the tense situation.

It relaxed Callen enough to proceed with their planned approach. If Eric was not overly worried, they would proceed. He turned to Sam, signaling for him to go ahead, giving Nell a brief sideways glance. She had proven herself capable and clearheaded under fire before and he knew she would be a valuable asset once they were inside. Her job was to recover the stolen data and their job was to get her there and make sure they took down as many bad guys as possible on the way.

Scanning the building ahead of them, they waited for Sam to reach new shelter closer to the building. Callen followed first once his partner signed for him to go before Nell sprinted over as well. Sam was about to proceed when Callen jerked him back down, a bullet pinging off the edge of the car’s fender where Sam’s head just had been. Nell moved to the car’s bumper and fired off several rounds, making the man duck back down.

The warehouse’s door rolled open and a van roared outside, the side open and a man hanging out with a semi-automatic pointed in their direction.

They were sitting ducks if they stayed where they were. Reaching for Nell, he bundled her forward, knowing Sam would be right behind him. He fired in the direction of the first shooter, hoping he would be encouraged enough to stay down so they wouldn’t be gunned down from both sides. Sliding around the car, he kept their rear covered while Sam took aim to take out the van. If the data was in that van, they had to stop it from escaping. Nell and Sam stood facing in one direction, trusting him to keep their backs protected. When the first shooter popped up, Callen didn’t hesitate, firing instantly to take the man out. The way the man dropped down and out of sight was a good indication that he had managed to do that.

Turning around to help Nell and Sam, he caught a sense of movement on his left and instantly swung that way, not waiting until he had finished his turn before he took the shot. It was still a fraction of a moment too late and the man fired a single shot. The man fell a moment later, the same time that Nell stumbled by his side, pushed back into the car by the power of the hit.

Callen turned to her and drew her back behind the relative safety of the car they were crouched behind. His eyes moved over the younger woman, zeroing in on the blood on her arm. He reached up to his ear and tapped the earwig, “I have an agent down. We need backup,” he ordered, trusting Sam to keep them covered for that brief moment of inattention.

Nell hissed and pushed him away, “I’m good. It’s just a graze.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and held her down, ripping the fabric of her shirt away to check on the wound. It was indeed a graze, a fiery line along her upper arm was bleeding sluggishly. Callen ripped off the sleeve of her shirt the whole way and tied it around her arm over the wound. It was only then that he let her up. It was a crude field dressing, but anything more thorough had to wait until they had finished the raid.

Sam had taken the van out and after a brief non-verbal communication, they made their way out from behind their shelter and over to the wreck. Nell remained where she was, covering their rear. The van had crashed into another car after Sam had taken out the front tire. The shooter lay inside, his neck bent at an unnatural angle. The driver was beginning to move, groaning and trying to sit up.

Callen drew open the door and scanned the passenger side while Sam dragged the driver out of the van and threw him face down on the ground, proceeding to zip-tie his hands behind his back. “Clear,” Callen stated when he was sure that there was no one left inside the vehicle. Sam nodded and stood, bringing his gun back up. Callen tilted his head into the direction of the surprise shooter that had injured Nell. They once more covered each other while they approached. Callen rounded the corner and frowned when the spot was empty.

“Where is he?” Sam asked a moment later.

Callen growled in anger, turning around to see if he could spot anything. There was no further cover around, so the shooter wasn’t laying in wait for them. He scanned the side of the yard and then checked the walkways above them, finding nothing. He allowed his weapon to sink before turning back around.

Sam crouched down at the corner, pointing at a stain of red. “Blood,” he noted, “you probably winged him.”

“Keep an eye out,” Callen muttered, angry that they had one suspect on the run. For the moment they would have to let him go. They needed to get inside the warehouse to secure their Intel. He reached for his earwig, “we have a runner on the south side, Eric. See if you can spot him and send someone after him. We’ll proceed inside.”

“Copy that,” Eric answered, his voice only mildly distracted as he was overseeing all of the tactical teams included in this raid. He was good at multi-tasking, guiding several teams at the same time if necessary. Still, it would have been nice to have Nell in Ops as well. But the decision to take her along to secure the data had been made as a team and he stood by it. They hadn’t expected that much trouble. Callen mentally shrugged… _hindsight_.

The gunfire from the other side of the warehouse had died down, only sporadic gun shots ringing out. Callen and Sam both turned at the same time, checking on Nell who was still crouched by the car, scanning their surroundings and keeping their backs covered.

Callen signaled for her to stay where she was until they reached the entrance and she nodded. He could see blood on the bandage he had wrapped around her arm, but the stain wasn’t growing rapidly enough to be dangerous for the moment.

Callen and Sam hurried over to the entrance, keeping to what little cover they had while trusting Nell to watch their backs. They shouldered the wall beside the entrance and waited for Nell to come over.

“Proceeding inside,” Callen stated before he followed Sam inside.

“Tac team 1 is already inside,” Eric answered, “Kensi and Deeks are about to breech as well.”

“Copy that,” Callen acknowledged without taking his eyes off of their surroundings, swinging his gun low while Sam checked the high ground of the walkways. They weren’t met with any resistance but they stuck to the cover of old barrels and machinery as much as they could. No one wanted any more surprises.

All three of them turned when there was a gunshot from the other side of the building.

“Agent down.” Kensi’s voice came over the line. Eric had merged all of their channels together now that they were inside the warehouse.

Callen traded a glance with Sam, unspoken communication between them before he broke off from his partner and Nell. He would go for Kensi and Deeks while Sam and Nell proceeded inside to secure their data. On the other side of the room, the shadows moved and he drew to a brief stop, beginning to duck down when he caught sight of the bulletproof vest with the NCIS lettering of one of the tactical squad. They nodded towards each other and proceeded, merging together when they approached a corner of the corridor that would lead them to the entrance where Kensi and Deeks had come inside.

Together, they quietly stepped into the dimly lit hallway and cautiously scanned the area. A shot came from up and behind them and they both dropped down, rolling to the side and trying to get a beacon on the shooter. The agent from the tactical team motioned to the walkway up above and Callen nodded, scanning the structure and barely able to make out a dark silhouette moving away. He fired a shot but missed, the shadow starting to sprint off. “One suspect on the walkway northbound,” Callen spoke while pushing himself up and starting to chase the shadow, the tactical agent right behind him.

He listened to Eric directing some agents to their position before their technical operator cursed. “Callen, there’s a helicopter coming in from the south. Flying low, under the radar.”

A helicopter could only mean one thing… their targets were trying to escape that way. “Have the squads outside try to take it out,” he ordered, “we have to get to the roof,” he told the tactical agent behind him while running, changing his direction slightly when he remembered the blueprints of the building. There was a shortcut to the roof access close to where they were. They sprinted around a corner and up the flight of stairs, only slowing down when they approached the door that would lead to the roof.

The sound of rotors outside was loud, letting them know that tactical teams outside hadn’t managed to force the chopper down. Signaling to the tactical agent, Callen pushed the door open and dropped to a crouch, scanning the roof. He jerked back when a bullet slammed into the steel door above his head. Sneaking a peek round the door, he took in the scene: two men sprinted towards the helicopter while another man covered their rear from the door of the chopper, firing in his direction. He traded hand signals with the tactical agent and then exploded in motion, sprinting for a brick wall close by that provided convenient cover while the tactical agent fired at the helicopter and the enemy shooter. Shots pinged off the ground by his feet and Callen slid to a stop behind the wall. He instantly turned towards the helicopter, firing as well now that he had enough cover. The two men jumped inside and the other returned their fire, quickly climbing into the waiting helicopter as well. Despite their best efforts, the helicopter took off momentarily, banking to the right as Callen stood and ran after it, still firing. He approached the edge of the roof and slowed down, spitting curses.

“Eric, the chopper got away.” He rattled off the registration number. “Find it,” Callen ordered their tech before turning back. The tactical agent looked similarly pissed at having lost their targets. “Kensi, status report,” he ordered, needing to know who had been hit and how bad it was.

“Deeks took one to the leg. Flesh wound. No arterial bleeding.” The words were somewhat distracted and even if the report was short and precise, he could hear the worry in them.

“ETA for the medics?” he asked.

“Two minutes out,” Eric answered and Callen nodded to himself. “Sam?” His partner and Nell hadn’t called in yet and he needed to know how things stood on their end.

“We got a laptop here. Nell is checking the data. Not sure if it was copied to an external hard drive yet.”

“Once you know, get Nell to the medics as well,” he said.

“Copy that,” Sam acknowledged and Callen sighed softly. Two of their team wounded, even if it seemed to be minor wounds. Their targets got away… if with or without the data wasn’t certain yet. In his book, that made for a lousy outcome.

Growling in frustration, he kicked at a pebble lying in his path before he started for the stairs, needing to check on the state of things downstairs.

Xxxxxxx

When he came downstairs, two ambulances were waiting outside, slightly apart from each other. Deeks was lying on one of the stretchers with the medics fussing over him. Kensi stood close by without being in the way. There was tension in her frame, but not enough to suggest the wound was worse than previously thought.

Callen stepped up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “You good?” he asked.

Kensi gave him a strained smile. “Yeah, I’m good.” She glanced over to where her partner was, “medics say it’s a flesh wound. Still… the guy came out of nowhere. Fired a single shot and was gone a moment later. I didn’t even get to return fire before he was gone.”

Callen shrugged. “He made his way up to the roof. Probably knew the chopper was coming and decided to get out and save his skin instead of taking the fall.” He squeezed her shoulder and turned to the medics, wanting their assessment on top of Kensi’s, “how bad?”

The medic turned to him with a reassuring smile. “Through and through. There’s some soft tissue damage. It needs to be cleaned and stitched up. Circulation is intact and there’s no nerve damage as far as I can determine.”

“Good,” Callen nodded and glanced at Deeks who was trying to get up when the other medic turned her back on him. Callen smirked at the obvious escape attempt. “Deeks, stay put. Get that patched up.”

“Stitches mean needles,” Deeks whined.

He laughed while Kensi rolled her eyes. Still, the comment served as enough of a reassurance that Deeks was alright and he felt himself relax.

“How’s Nell?” Deeks asked.

“I’ll check up on her next. She had a graze on her arm but was able to continue on. We split up and she stayed with Sam,” he told them both, “the wound didn’t look too serious.”

The impact of the information was measured easily by the relief and relaxation visible in both Kensi and Deeks. A lot of things had gone wrong in this raid and they would have to find out exactly where they had gone wrong… after everyone was patched up and safe. “Kensi, go with him and make sure he get’s patched up properly,” he told her with a nod towards her partner who glanced around furtively as if considering making a break for it.

She touched his arm briefly when he turned away from her, offering comfort and taking it at the same time. They all were aware that they had gotten somewhat lucky today. Even if the raid had gone to hell, they had all come out of it alive, if worse for wear.

Callen approached the second ambulance, taking in Nell’s form on the back step. Sam stood guard over her while she sat somewhat hunched over, a clean bandage on her arm that the medic was just tying up. “How are you?” he asked gently when Nell looked up.

“Just a graze,” she reconfirmed.

Callen glanced at the medic in askance who nodded at the unspoken question.

“Graze on her upper arm. I’ve cleaned it up. No stitches required,” he told both Callen and Sam before turning to his patient, “you’re free to go. Keep it clean and watch out for signs of infection. Take painkillers as needed.”

With a nod, Nell stood and moved her arm, hissing softly, “stings like a bit**.”

Callen and Sam both laughed. “Yeah, they tend to do that,” Sam told the younger woman, putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her against his side. “Your first one, right?” he asked gently and Nell nodded with a small grin, more proud than scared by having acquired her first battle wound.

Inwardly, Callen rolled his eyes. Adrenaline junkies. The lot of them. “Alright, let’s head out. Nell, we’ll drop you off at home. You get some rest and then come back to Ops tomorrow,” he decided and started turning away when Nell shook her head.

“I can work. No way we’ll let these guys get away.”

Sam turned more fully to her, “of course not, but you should get some rest.”

Nell’s eyes narrowed and Callen nearly took a step back at the fire in them. “Would you?” she asked.

Her tone of voice suggested that they better answer that question honestly. She looked a lot like Hetty in that moment. The old ninja had taught her well. Callen smirked and looked at his partner, who looked back at him. “Well, Sam… would you?” he needled, making Nell laugh and his partner narrow his eyes at him. Callen shook his head and turned back to their younger colleague, “alright, Nellverine, then let’s get back to Ops. I’m sure Eric will want to see you for himself and appreciate the backup.”


	2. Chapter 2

The intense pain that had radiated up her arm earlier had dulled down within an hour or so after the shooting. By now, the wound was mostly numb if sometimes tingling. She tried not moving it too much, but all in all, had been able to put it aside and focus on her work.

At the same time, she was feeling the after effects of the shooting. She felt agitated and restless, her muscles twitching every now and then in involuntary movement that annoyed the hell out of her. Nell pinched the bridge of her nose when the words on the screen were blurring in front of her eyes… again. She leaned back in her chair with a sigh, brushing a hand through her hair, feeling the sweat at the back of her neck. It was warmer inside of Ops than normal. Usually, they kept the room cool because of the servers, but today it felt like a furnace.

Returning to her search, Nell forced herself to focus, still trying to find the helicopter that had taken off from the roof of the warehouse with their prime suspects and shooters. It had flown under the radar and therefore they couldn’t get a location by following the flight path. They were currently scanning the social media pages for photos, trying to locate their helicopter that way to at least get a general direction.

Nell coughed softly to clear her throat, swallowing with difficulty before deciding she needed a break. Eric glanced at her when she stood. “I’ll be right back,” she told him with a small smile.

Eric frowned. “You ok?”

“Yeah, just need a break. Think everything is catching up,” she mumbled.

Eric stood and embraced her and Nell leaned into him, letting her partner hold her up for some moments. Pushing away from Eric, Nell gave him a small smile before turning away and making her way outside. She reached for the wall when her sight blurred again, feeling her way down the corridor and to the restroom.

Xxxxxxx

According to Nell, the data hadn’t been copied to an external hard drive. Callen and Sam were bouncing off ideas between the two of them.

Callen was certain that they were missing something. Something just didn’t sit well with him. Something felt off.

Why would someone go through the trouble of getting access to the codes for drones and leave them there on the table for the authorities to collect while they made off with nothing. There had been enough time to either grab the laptop or even to copy the data while the law enforcement officers were beginning their raid and were being kept busy by the shooters outside. Then the helicopter… that required forethought; it was impossible to get a helicopter to arrive within minutes of the beginning of the raid without it having been planned beforehand.

Something more was going on. It felt more like an ambush than a raid gone wrong.

Callen opened his mouth to argue his point when there was a scream for help from the upstairs corridor. He was out of his seat in a flash and after a brief glance at his partner charged up the stairs with Sam following.

They tore down the corridor to where the call had come from and stumbled into the women’s restroom moments later. Callen stopped short while Sam charged further inside, instantly kneeling down beside Nell who was crumbled on the floor. Another woman knelt by her head, trying to keep it stable as Nell convulsed, her limbs flopping around, her body jerking off the ground. Her eyes were flickering rapidly under her lids.

Sam reached for her shoulders and rolled Nell over onto her side. “When did she start seizing?” he asked the other woman.

“She was like this when I came inside. I called for help right away,” she answered and Callen glanced at his watch.

“At least twenty seconds, give or take,” he suggested, seeing Sam nod. “Ambulance?”

Sam looked undecided, “usually seizures don’t last long and we’re not even five minutes from Cedars-Sinai. It will probably be faster if we take her ourselves once she stops seizing. But if the seizure continues we can’t take her,” he stated, glancing up at Callen.

He could see his partner’s indecision, knowing that if they decided to wait and take her themselves and Nell didn’t stop seizing they wasted valuable time. Callen took charge and turned around only to nearly crash into Eric. He took the younger man by the shoulders and pushed him back outside before he could catch a glance at his partner. “Call for an ambulance,” he told him firmly, “Nell’s having a seizure. Keep them on the line. We might cancel them if she stops convulsing. In that case we’ll take her over to Cedars ourselves.”

Eric jumped and started to push past Callen, but he held firm, shaking the tech for emphasis, “call an ambulance, Eric,” he repeated firmly, emphasizing each word, “Sam is taking care of her.” He forcefully turned Eric around and pushed him towards Ops, ignoring the wide eyed look the tech threw over his shoulder.

Callen turned back inside, watching as his partner kept a stable hold on Nell, softly speaking to her. Eventually, the convulsions started to slow down, some shivers and tremors remaining. His partner reached for her neck and checked her pulse, his frown tightening. Sam glanced up and again, they made eye contact, speaking without speaking.

Callen nodded and opened the door when Sam scooped up the younger woman and stood. Nell was still unconscious, her breathing rapid and strained, her appearance flushed. They would take Nell themselves and not wait for an ambulance. Hetty stood just outside, glancing up at him with worry plainly written on her face. “Tell Eric to cancel the ambulance. We’ll take her to Cedars ourselves,” he told their boss who nodded and stepped aside to let Sam pass.

Callen let the door fall shut behind him and hurried past Sam, downstairs to have a car ready.

Xxxxxxx

Sam had slipped into the backseat with Nell in his arms and Callen closed the door behind them before jumping into the driver’s seat and peeling away. It was a short trip to Cedars - especially with the way he was driving - but the tension hung thick inside of the car.

Nell’s breathing was labored and she hadn’t regained consciousness.

Callen met his partner’s eyes in the rearview mirror, silently prompting him to start talking.

“She’s burning up. Her heart rate and blood pressure are increased. Breathing is strained,” Sam told him softly.

“Infection?” he suggested quietly.

Sam shrugged, “bit early for an onset and a very strong one at that.”

It had been just over five hours since Nell had been shot and Callen had to concede the point. It was very early to develop an infection that strong. He focused on driving, knowing he wouldn’t be able to solve that puzzle anyway. He wasn’t a physician. Sam had enough field training to know what he was doing, but he too was no doctor.

Callen screeched to a halt in front of the emergency room and sighed in relief when there was a team waiting for them. Most certainly Hetty had called in advance and announced their arrival.

The door to the backseat was yanked open and Nell’s body was lifted by several hands. Sam followed her out of the backseat, listing symptoms and stats as Nell was lowered onto a gurney and wheeled inside.

Callen followed them inside, his mind racing.


	3. Chapter 3

They had been directed to the waiting room, the doctors having taken over from them and sequestering Nell away to get a handle on her state.

Hetty and Eric had appeared soon after, with Eric pacing restlessly, wide eyed, muttering to himself. Callen wanted to ask him about Nell and whether he had noticed anything unusual, but with a subtle shake of her head Hetty had discouraged him for the moment. She was right, Eric would be no help right now.

They all looked up when the doors opened and Kensi and Deeks came inside, their expressions worried. Deeks was hobbling, keeping most of his weight off his left leg. He made his way over to one of the empty seats and sank down in it with a sigh, stretching out his injured leg.

“What happened?” Kensi asked no one in particular.

Eric turned and opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before shaking his head and squeezing his eyes closed. “Nell said she needed a break, that things were catching up with her,” he told them, his voice strangled, “she didn’t look well, somewhat flushed and I think she had trouble focusing before she left Ops.”

Callen tilted his head to the side, “how do you figure?”

Eric gesticulated somewhat wildly before plopping down in an empty seat, “I don’t know. She was different. Usually, she’s focused, but she seemed twitchy and kept blinking rapidly and pinching the bridge of her nose several times. I’ve only seen her do that before when she isn’t feeling well.”

“There’s nothing we can do right now,” Sam said softly, his gaze moving over all of them and Callen nodded before leaning back in his seat, forcing his body to relax as much as possible.

“She’s in good hands,” Hetty assured them from beside him. The way she reached out and pattered his thigh let Callen know that his old mentor was very worried though.

Xxxxxxx

He sat with his eyes closed, having long learned to rest his body as much as he could while his mind was still wide awake. Something was still bothering him about the case but Nell’s wellbeing took priority right now.

Despite mostly having his eyes closed, he knew where each one of his team members and his superior were. Sam and Hetty were sat on either side of him, both of them sitting still as well. Waves of tension and worry were emanating from both of them but like him, they knew when to force their bodies to take a break.

Eric was alternately pacing the room and plopping down in an empty seat only to jump back up and resume pacing a few minutes later. He was highly agitated and fear was easily visible in his expression whenever Callen had taken a glance at him.

Kensi stood next to Deeks, every now and then intercepting Eric to try and offer comfort that was brushed off not out of spite but simply because Eric couldn’t focus on anything but what was happening to Nell.

Deeks was obviously trying to sit still and rest, especially with his own wound not permitting much movement, but it was easily visible that he longed to move, his legs twitching ever so often in aborted movements.

Callen sighed when he heard the Detective shift and looked over to see him wringing his hands together while his leg jiggled before he leaned forward and hunched over, obviously trying to stretch his back.

“You alright, Deeks? Maybe you should go home, lie down?” Callen asked softly. While it was only a flesh wound, it was still a gunshot wound that needed healing.

Deeks glanced up and shook his head, “’m not leaving. Back is cramping,” he mumbled, “damn hospital chairs.”

Callen watched him some more. He looked exhausted and unwell, but considering the gunshot wound, he guessed that was somewhat expected. “At least put the leg up.”

Before Deeks could answer, the door opened and one of the doctors came in and moved towards them. All of them turned and aside of Deeks, everyone stood up. “I’m sorry it took so long. It took us a while to stabilize her,” the physician said regretfully.

“How is she doing, Steve?” Hetty asked, recognizing the doctor. He was one of the team of doctors that usually took care of them when they came in with various scrapes, broken bones or more grievous wounds.

The man sighed and sat down, prompting all of them to take their seats again. “I’m afraid she’s not doing very well. She slipped into a second seizure while we were working, but we could reverse that quickly. The seizure isn’t our worst concern right now. She’s displaying several systemic symptoms including cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous system.”

“What does that mean?” Kensi asked quietly.

Steve glanced over at her. “At this moment, we are still trying to get a handle on things and find out what is wrong. I gathered that she was shot today…” the sentence was left hanging as a prompt.

Callen nodded. “Yes. About seven hours ago, give or take. Could all of this be due to an infection?”

“Possible. But while the area around the gunshot wound is swollen and red, the blood parameters don’t give us any indication for a systemic infection of that magnitude. Several of her blood parameters are out of range, but they don’t make much sense in this setting,” the doctor shook his head. “Plus, from the timeline we’ve established, it would be too early for a sepsis of that magnitude. Did anything else happen today?”

“Eric said he gathered she wasn’t feeling well before she had the seizure. She may have had trouble focusing and was apparently twitchy,” Sam said with a brief glance over at their tech to confirm what he had told Steven just now.

Steve followed Sam’s glance to Eric, who nodded. “She may have had a headache, kept pinching the bridge of her nose. But I’m not sure. She didn’t say. She didn’t look well, and I hugged her before she went to the bathroom. I keep thinking about it, but I’m not perfectly sure… she may have been warmer than usual,” he said, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face.

Steve nodded in acknowledgement. “Yeah, she’s running a fever, so that wouldn’t be a surprise.” He paused briefly, his eyes remaining on Eric, “what about before she was shot? Anything unusual?”

Eric shook his head, but Callen was distracted when his eyes were drawn over to Deeks, who sat hunched over, shivering slightly, his left leg twitching again. There was a soft sound of distress before the Detective pushed up from his seat and staggered a few steps away before stumbling, hunching over and throwing up.

Steve was out of his seat in a fraction of a second, hurrying over to Deeks and keeping him upright, Sam following and moving towards Deeks other side. They drew him away from where he had vomited on the floor, handling him like a ragdoll when Deeks seemingly had little strength to do anything to help. Kensi knelt by Deeks’ head when Sam and Steve lowered him down. Deeks rolled onto his side and curled up, shivering.

Steve reached for his wrist, checking his stats while Kensi called her partner’s name, getting a faint moan in response, “Deeks, look at me.”

When Deeks opened his eyes, they were somewhat unfocussed but what was more worrisome was that his eyes moved rapidly from left to right in what looked to be an involuntary movement.

Callen glanced at Steve, who paused briefly before turning his head and calling for a stretcher to be brought in. “Did he get hit on the head?” he asked, glancing at Kensi. The fact that he knew exactly who to ask for things like that, that Steve was aware of the partnerships within the team, told Callen that they wound up in his care too often. Sadly, it was an occupational hazard.

“No,” Kensi stated firmly, shaking her head. “He took a bullet to the leg, but he didn’t fall down or hit his head.”

When Steve glanced up, their gazes connected. “Just what the hell were you working on, Callen?” he asked harshly, “any drugs? Chemical or biological weapons?”

Callen recoiled before shaking his head, “no, nothing like that,” he replied firmly, before amending softly, “at least not that we know of.”

Deeks pushed feebly at Steve, “’m fine,” he slurred.

Steve shook his head, “no, you’re not.” When a stretcher was brought in, Deeks was quickly loaded up on it and wheeled out of the waiting room. Steve turned in the doorway to glance back at them. “All of you: stay here. I’ll send someone for you in a minute.” With that, he was gone, following after Deeks and leaving a vacuum in the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Kensi and Eric were at one side of the room, both of them stunned and disbelieving by what had happened to their respective partners.

Callen, Sam and Hetty were on the other side of the room.

“Just what have we been missing, gentlemen?” Hetty asked, her voice low and worried.

Sam shook his head, “it was a clean cut case. Missing access codes for drones. We followed the leads to an Indian liberation group. They got wind of the drones and used an unsuspecting and naïve Lieutenant to gather enough info to stage a coup and gain access.”

“This whole operation has gone seven shades of sideways ever since the raid. Until then, the leads were sporadic but visible,” Callen mused, pursing his lips, “but since the raid, a lot of things have been bothering me.”

Before he could go into further detail, several physicians stepped into the room, masks over their faces and geared up. They were not quite in biohazard outfits, but they were in enough protective gear to be close. “Dr. Mitchell has given orders for you to be put in quarantine and checked over.”

Callen growled and was about to decline, when Hetty put a hand on his forearm, shaking her head when he glanced at her. “_If_ there is a risk, we need to make certain we corral this as quickly as possible,” she told him softly but firmly before turning to the physicians, “lead the way.”

The men handed out masks they put on before the group followed them through different corridors into an unused ward of the hospital. It felt somewhat stunning that there was an unused ward for cases like this, but every now and then, there were medical emergencies that necessitated the use of a quarantine station. Upon entering the ward, they were separated into different rooms before each of them underwent a thorough check-up.

Callen hated medical check-ups and he hated needles, but two of his colleagues had fallen violently ill within a few hours and he saw the need to make certain that no one else was developing symptoms. He felt fine, but then again, despite the bullet wounds, so had Nell and Deeks until recently. Once the doctor and nurse who had been with him left, he started pacing the room.

This whole case was stinking to high heaven. Something was going on that had landed Nell and Deeks in hospital, at least one of them in a potentially life threatening condition. He didn’t believe in coincidences.

Two hours later, he was no closer to a solution than before, but he also wasn’t winding down. His brain was working furiously over the facts and trying to make connections where he couldn’t see any connections yet but knew he had to look for them at exactly that point.

Callen looked up when the door opened and Steve stood in the doorway, beckoning him outside. They met with the rest of the team in a large room, standing around in a loose circle.

“All of your stats and blood parameters are normal; neurological tests, too. We’ll take another blood sample in 4 hours to confirm the results and make sure there’s nothing happening, but right now, I don’t think you contacted anything,” Steve stated. “Was there anything that only Nell and Deeks had access to during the raid?”

Sam shook his head, “we approached from different sides of the building and those two didn’t even get close to each other. Even the ambulances were parked apart from each other.”

Callen tilted his head to the side in thought, slowly moving around the room.

“Callen?” Steve prompted.

He turned and shrugged, “the bullets.” He held up a hand when Kensi wanted to protest, “yes, different bullets, and different sides of the building, but only Nell and Deeks were wounded. Plus…” he tapered off.

All of them watched him closely while he tried to put his thoughts in line, grabbing for something that had been unreachable before.

“It was something you said, Kensi…” Callen stated slowly, testing the words before verbalizing his thoughts, “you said the attacker fired a single shot and was gone a moment later, that you didn’t even get to return fire.”

Kensi nodded slowly when all of them glanced at her.

“The same was true for when Nell was shot,” Sam muttered softly, “Callen fired a shot at him because he saw him move, but he was gone when we checked around the corner where he had been.”

“Yes,” Callen nodded, “and the helicopter… that took forethought. No one manages to organize a chopper within five minutes of the authorities arriving.”

Hetty’s eyes narrowed, “you’re thinking it was a trap,” she concluded, more statement than question.

Callen glared over at her, his eyes flashing, “yeah, I think we were set up. Whether it was Nell and Deeks specifically or not, I don’t know.”

“You think the bullets were poisoned?” Steve asked, obviously seeking clarification.

“Run a ToxScreen,” Callen told him firmly.

“Already being processed,” Steve nodded, amending, “for all of you.”

Callen returned the man’s stare, “let us go, Steve. We need to be outside to find those guys. I’m sure that none of us is in any way or form sick. Both Nell and Deeks weren’t feeling well after the raid. We put that down to them being shot,” Callen stated, looking to Kensi for confirmation since they hadn’t seen Deeks after he had been taken to the hospital to be patched up.

Kensi nodded slightly, “he complained about the wound several times, said it was burning more than it should have.”

“He was also agitated, seemed twitchy in the waiting room,” Sam added.

“He complained about cramps in his back,” Callen nodded.

Steve watched them all, seemingly undecided about whether to let them go or not. Callen turned to his mentor, “Hetty, we are of more use outside.”

“Another team can…” she started, but Callen exploded, fury and adrenaline dousing his system, the hold he’d had on his anger and frustration snapping.

“This is my team. _Our_ team. I will not put their lives into anyone else’s hands,” he growled, surprising all of them with his vehemence - everyone but Sam and Hetty, probably. Callen took a calming breath, “Hetty, we take care of ourselves. We’ll go over what we found before. We already know the case so we will not need to read up on it.”

“Maybe another team would go at it with a different approach, a different view,” Hetty said, but he could hear from the tone of her voice that she was making a token protest, playing the devil’s advocate.

“No time to get a new team read into the case, Hetty,” Callen said softly, glancing at Steve for confirmation. He saw it in the way the other man held himself. He had been here often enough to get to know Steve and he knew how to read the man, knew when he was worried and when things weren’t too bad. Right now, he was gravely worried. “How bad, Steve?” he asked softly.

The others looked away from him and Hetty, and instead over to Steve who sighed.

“We’ve sedated Nell. She’s had another seizure and she’s now on a ventilator. Her lungs have filled with fluid and she’s had trouble breathing,” he said softly, “Deeks is somewhat conscious but rather confused and he, too, is developing a fever and cardiovascular symptoms.”

Callen and Sam shared a glance before he turned back to the physician. “Steve, let us go. If they’ve been poisoned, you will need to know what kind of poison, right?”

Steve nodded, “right now, we’re managing the symptoms, but yeah, the poison determines the antidote and even the treatment.”

Callen straightened and turned to his partner, taking in the firm nod that Sam sent his way. He glanced at Kensi and Eric. “Are you two able to work this?” he asked gently, “I know those are your significant others in there.” He would not force either of those two to work the case, but he quietly admitted to himself that the backup - especially the technical side that Eric could provide - would be greatly appreciated.

Both Kensi and Eric looked torn for a moment, glancing towards the corridor before resolutely turning away from where their partners were laid up and facing Callen with a nod.

He gave them both a small and appreciative smile, “alright, let’s go.”

Xxxxxxx

Kensi didn’t particularly like being in Eric and Nell’s domain, but she had bowed to his order for her and Eric to team up. Those two could hold each other up and keep each other focused. Callen had briefly toyed with the thought of mixing Eric and Kensi with Sam and himself to be able to better support those two now that they were worried over their partners, but he got the feeling that he shouldn’t break up his own longstanding partnership with Sam right now, that they would be better off together. They knew each other’s quirks and he didn’t want Kensi in the field right now, since a distraction as big as was happening right now in the hospital could get them all killed.

Their opponents were obviously very good and he didn’t want to risk anyone else.

Still… he had a feeling that things would go wrong however they played this. It was just that tingling sensation he got that alerted him of trouble ahead.

He entered the boatshed ahead of Sam, nodding towards their fellow agent who was standing guard over the woman who had been naïve enough to fall for a scam and start this whole thing. They would question her again, see if they had missed something that could help point them in the right direction.

Xxxxxxx

When the cell phone number they got from the woman came online and Eric was able to pin it down, neither of them wasted a moment. Four more hours had gone by and they were more than ready for action.

The reports from hospital were sobering. Neither Nell nor Deeks showed any signs of improvement, but at least they weren’t worsening further right now. The doctors were managing the symptoms but making no headway into what had caused their illness.

Leaving the boatshed at a fast pace, Sam and Callen strode over to the Challenger when a single shot rang out.


	5. Chapter 5

“Sam?!” Callen shouted over the roof of the car to where his partner had fallen. He had his weapon out and was scanning the surroundings before moving to drag Sam out of the line of fire.

“Just a flesh wound,” Sam called back, “go get the bastard!”

Usually, Callen wouldn’t leave his partner behind, but in this case, he didn’t have much of a choice. If this attack was similarly planned as the attacks during the raid, he wouldn’t have much time to chase their attacker down. And they needed a lead badly so that they could get Nell and Deeks the antidote… and Sam as well now.

He once more scanned the area and saw someone running off. Pushing off to give chase, Callen tapped his earwig. “Eric, I need an ambulance at the boatshed. Sam’s been shot. Send out Nolan so he can take care of Sam. I have a visual on a suspect.”

“Copy that. Checking the cameras now,” Eric spoke up, the clicking of keys audible in the background while he relayed Callen’s demand to the agent inside of the boatshed. Callen tuned him out, his eyes set on the person running ahead of him. He had a head start, but Callen had a lot of anger and frustration to burn off.

When the shooter headed down the docks several slips away from the boatshed, he briefly wondered if the man had miscalculated and slipped up by backing himself into a corner, but then he heard an engine being revved and he cursed under his breath while reaching down deep into his energy reserves and lengthening his stride before careening to the left several slips earlier than the shooter had turned. All of the docks were dead ends, so if he had a boat waiting for him, he would have to get past Callen to reach the open water.

“Eric, inform the Coast Guard. He’s got a boat waiting for him. I’m trying to head him off at the pass,” he ordered, seeing a Jet Ski with two people coming from the right side. He raised his weapon and started firing even while he was running, “it’s a Jet Ski, Eric,” he shouted, skidding to a stop at the railing. One of his shots hit its mark, the Jet Ski operator hunching over and leaning precariously to the side. The man in the back reached around the other to take control of the vehicle. It gave Callen time to take a more careful aim and he fired several shots at the engine, listening in satisfaction as it sputtered and died.

The man in the back pounded a fist on the handle in frustration before turning towards Callen. Their gazes connected and Callen narrowed his eyes, his weapon raised. “Don’t even think about it,” he shouted, “hands up where I can see them,” knowing it was futile before the words left his mouth. The shooter reached for his gun and when he brought it up, Callen fired once, hitting the man in the arm. He didn’t want their only current lead to commit suicide by cop. He needed that man alive for them to question. As long as he had options, he wouldn’t put a bullet into the man’s brain or his heart - or anywhere vital that would lead to a prolonged surgery.

“Coast Guard speed boat coming your way,” Eric told him and only moments later he could hear the sound of a powerful engine. The vessel slowed down considerably and he was ordered to drop his weapon.

“Federal agent,” he shouted back, keeping his gun pointed at the man on the Jet Ski, “arrest the suspect.” There was a brief pause before the vessel glided closer to the Jet Ski. At the same time, several cars screeched to a stop on the dock behind him before multiple pairs of feet ran his way. Callen inwardly sighed when he knew what was coming, internally acknowledging that the Coast Guard officers were naturally cautious. He could understand their need to make certain he was who he said he was.

When the voices shouted for him to drop his weapon, he repeated his demand, still not lowering his weapon. The Coast Guard vessel had yet to approach the Jet Ski and he knew it was a critical moment. If he dropped his weapon too early, the shooter might have a go at getting another shot off.

Two persons approached from behind.

“I’m a federal agent. Identification is in my left back pocket. Our technical operator Eric Beale asked you to assist us on my order. That man has shot at least one federal agent just five minutes ago and probably several others before. He tried to resist his arrest,” he said without turning. His gaze was locked on that of the attacker and he was certain if he took his eyes off him, the man would try something. There was a gleam in his eyes that let Callen know he was still calculating ways for him to get away.

“Lower your weapon. We’ve got your suspect covered from the vessel,” a voice shouted behind him.

He loathed the order, wanted to keep his weapon up. Still, they were at a catch-22 right now. As long as Callen had his weapon up, the Coast Guard officers behind him couldn’t approach him safely. If he were a criminal, he could make use of that moment to get the drop on them. And the Coast Guard vessel couldn’t apprehend the shooter either if he had his weapon pointed in their direction.

He glanced at the men in the vessel, seeing several weapons trained on the shooter. It gave him enough confidence to finally drop his stance.

Callen straightened and raised both his hands, letting his gun dangle from the trigger guard. He kept his eyes on the shooter, though some part of his senses was on the officers behind him. The vessel started approaching the shooter, still cautious in not wanting to get into anyone’s line of fire. The gun was taken out of his hand before the Coast Guard officer reached for his badge, taking it out of his pocket. He didn’t look behind himself, knowing it would only make the Coast Guard officers more wary if he moved now. A moment later, guns were being secured behind him.

In front of him, on the water, the Coast Guard arrested the shooter.

“Sorry, Agent Callen. Had to make sure,” the same voice from before spoke up behind him.

Callen nodded and turned towards the officers, taking his offered gun and badge back. “I know,” he replied simply, resisting the urge to vent some of his frustration on the men. “I need that man brought to the boatshed three docks down.”

The officers obviously saw something in his expression that had them scrambling to fulfill his wish, forwarding his demand via their radio.

Xxxxxxx

When he got back to the boatshed, there was an ambulance parked out front. Sam was resisting, telling the EMTs they should just patch him up and go on their merry way. It amused and frustrated Callen in equal measures. He approached his partner and Sam glanced up.

“You got him?”

“Coast Guard arrested him. They are bringing him over,” Callen nodded firmly.

“Good.” Sam made to stand up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Callen hissed.

Sam frowned, “we’ve got a suspect to interview,” he pointed out.

His eyes narrowed and Callen reached for Sam’s shoulder, trying to keep him down. “No, _I_ got a suspect to interview with Kensi. _You_ will go to the hospital.”

“G…” Sam warned but Callen was having none of it. This whole case had gone sideways in a fucked up way and all the frustration he had pushed down so far coupled with the fear for his teammates rose up in a tidal wave that rushed towards the shore, intent on demolishing everything and anything in its path. He was usually slow to anger, but right now that anger burned brightly. The tidal wave crashed onto the beach, squashing unsuspecting victims beneath.

“No, Sam, you listen to me,” Callen shouted, his eyes blazing, “you _will_ go to Cedars and you will work with Steve. Tell him whatever he needs to know about any symptoms. He needs all the information he can get from you that may help all three of you to survive long enough for us to find out just what was on those bullets. So no, you will not be interviewing the suspect and I will not watch all of you succumb to some fu**ing poison.”

Callen heaved for breath once the words had rushed out. Sam had watched his partner during his rant, half taken aback and half understanding, and Callen knew he had given a lot of himself away with this outburst. He wasn’t the unflappable agent, stoic and resourceful in the worst of circumstances. He was a man frightened for his friends and family. Before he could turn away, Sam stood up on one leg. He reached for him and drew him into a powerful hug that Callen clung to for a moment before pushing away to draw his masks back up and hide behind them. Sam kept a hand on his shoulder and didn’t let him escape.

“Keep me in the loop, partner,” Sam told him softly.

Callen nodded jerkily and sighed, drawing a hand over his face before stepping back. He turned to the waiting EMTs who had wisely stayed out of their volatile discussion and who were watching him somewhat warily. “Take him over to Cedars. I’m sure you’ll be expected already by Dr. Mitchell.” With that, he turned and headed towards the boatshed.

“Uhm, Callen?” Eric’s voice came over the line and Callen grimaced. He had forgotten the line to Ops that had been kept open ever since Sam had been shot. It seemed that not only Sam had witnessed his second outburst of the day. Brilliant, just brilliant.

“Yes, Eric?” he acknowledged, keeping his voice deliberately even.

“Kensi is on her way to the boatshed. The Coast Guard should arrive with the suspect in a few minutes as well.”

Callen entered the boatshed and turned towards the screen where Eric appeared. Their tech looked hassled and worried, his face drawn. “Any news on Nell and Deeks?” he asked softly.

“I just talked to Hetty. She said they were holding their own,” Eric replied in an equally quiet voice.

No news was good news, but still…

Callen took a deep breath, trying to settle his mind and regain focus. They were all off their game, but he needed to focus so they could solve this, make sure all of their respective partners survived this. When he glanced up, he knew his masks were mostly back in place - Sam and Hetty would probably see the cracks, but neither of them were here. “Alight, Eric, you know the drill. Run facial rec as soon as the suspect walks through the door and find out anything about him that you can. I want to know his favorite meal and his preferred beverage. If he ever stepped onto his neighbor’s cat’s tail, I want to know when that was and with which foot. Do the same for the dead Jet Ski driver as soon as you get the crime scene photos. Check where the Jet Ski came from. And so on.”

Eric straightened, obviously reacting to Callen’s in-charge-persona and snapping to attention. He affirmed the command with a short “copy that,” before signing off. The tech’s eyes were clearer though, more focused now that he had a new purpose and a task to work on. It would keep him busy for a while.

Xxxxxxx

Usually he liked to let their suspects stew for a while before he had a go at them, but today, he didn’t have that luxury, so Callen marched into the interrogation room the moment the shooter was settled.

He threw the door closed behind him and slapped a notepad down in front of the man. “Name,” he growled.

The shooter looked up with a grin, “Stevie Wonder.”

“Not yours, idiot,” Callen spat, “I don’t care one iota about you. I want the name of whatever poison you put on the bullets.”

The man leaned back in his chair with a self satisfied smile. “What poison?”

He knew the man was goading him and Callen held onto his control by his fingertips, merely glaring at the man.

“I suspect they aren’t doing well, are they?” the man needled.

Callen sat down opposite to him, deciding to keep the table between them for the moment to still the itching he had to just let loose on the man. He needed to wrest control away from the guy, “your partner isn’t either,” he shrugged nonchalantly, fixing his masks in place and preparing himself for a battle of wills and a lot of mind games ahead. They were both taking each other’s measure and so far, Callen felt he didn’t muster up… then again, a lot of people had paid the price for underestimating him.

Xxxxxxx

They had traded quips and meaningless words between them, Kensi had a go at him and they had tag-teamed him. So far, they hadn’t gotten anything from their shooter. Neither had Eric, trying to scour every available - and unavailable - database for him.

Callen once more resisted the urge to kick something while he watched Kensi have another go at the man.

His cell phone rang and Callen glanced at the display, paling slightly when Hetty’s name was displayed. “Yeah?” he said in greeting.

“Anything, Mr. Callen?” his mentor asked and he could hear the urgency in her tone.

“Not yet,” he muttered, somehow feeling frustrated and ashamed both at not having made any headway. Hetty sighed and his own worry tripled. Callen turned and strode into an unmonitored interrogation room of the boatshed, not wanting anyone to overhear this conversation. If Hetty had called him instead of enquiring about the state of the investigation via Eric, then things were not good. “How are they doing?”

“Not well I’m afraid,” his mentor admitted. “Ms Jones had another seizure that lasted longer than the previous ones did. Mr. Deeks’ lungs are beginning to fill with fluid and Steve is worried they will have to put him on a ventilator soon as well. Mr. Hanna is still reasonably well, but also displaying some cardio-vascular symptoms.”

That was exactly what he did _not_ want to hear. “Alright, the kid gloves are coming off now,” he muttered under his breath, fury and ice clashing inside of him.

“Mr. Callen…” Hetty hedged.

“No, Hetty,” he interrupted quietly, “this is not worth our people’s lives. If anyone wants my badge after this, I will gladly give it up if that means Nell, Deeks and Sam survive.”

Xxxxxxx

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly, I’m not sure if the Coast Guard would be able to lend a hand in this way since it’s probably not exactly their cup of tea. Then again, there’s interdepartmental assistance and since technically the suspects were fleeing on the water, it might just fall within their area of offering help. If not… creative license on my part ;)


	6. Chapter 6

Callen calmly walked into the interrogation room. He had decided to try one more ruse, a blatant threat and within their usual area of intimidation tactics. If that failed, all bets were off.

He wordlessly put a single bullet onto the table in front of the shooter, watching the man’s eyes move to the bullet. He also saw that the man acknowledged the fact he was wearing protective gloves.

He sat down and waited until the man’s eyes came up to him. “One of you guys fired a bullet at me yesterday during the raid. You missed,” he said evenly.

He saw recognition flitter through the man’s eyes and decided to press his advantage when he felt he had found a weak spot. “The techs found it was coated with something. There was enough residue left to transfer it to another bullet.” He deliberately allowed his eyes to move to where he had put the bullet.

The shooters eyes followed his to the bullet on the table and he licked his lips. Callen reached for the bullet and took out his gun, releasing the magazine and casually adding the extra bullet on top before slamming the magazine home once more. “I wonder if you were more inclined to tell me the name of the counter agent if you needed it yourself,” he stated conversationally.

Again, the man licked his lips nervously before watching him calculatingly. “My partner already died for this. So will I. I will not tell you anything, even if you put that bullet into me.” He leaned forward in his seat, meeting Callen’s gaze firmly. “Plus… I don’t believe you.”

Having his bluff called and finally allowing his control to snap, Callen surged out of his seat and was around the table in a flash, dragging the man out of the chair and propelling him backwards. He registered in satisfaction the breath going out of the man’s lungs when he hit the wall and the pain entering the man’s expression when the gunshot wound on his arm was jostled. “Listen, you idiot, I will get the information and I don’t care just how painful it’s going to be for you, but you will tell me what I want to know,” he snarled, shoving the man back into the wall again for good measure. His hands were bunched into the fabric of the man’s shirt and Callen’s eyes flickered down when he noticed something. The man followed his glance and his eyes widened before he tried pushing him away.

Callen growled and forced the man back. He changed his hold and used his left hand to rip the fabric open, his eyes falling on the tattoo that had caught his eye. Finally, connections snapped in place in his mind and everything slotted together.

He shoved off of the man and stepped away.

When the other man charged him in a desperate attempt, Callen sidestepped and in a quick and vicious struggle overpowered the shooter and pushed him face down on the table. He leaned down and whispered a “busted,” into the man’s ear before manhandling him back into his seat and striding out of the room.

Even before the door closed behind him, he had his cell phone out and was calling Hetty’s number.

“Mr. Callen?”

“Tell Steve it’s some kind of scorpion venom,” he told her urgently, “not sure which one - I’ll have Eric look into it - but that may help him already.”

He heard movement on the other end of the line before Hetty relayed the information and she came back online. “How do you figure?”

Callen stepped into the main room and found Kensi’s eyes on him. “The shooter has a tattoo below his collarbone… a stylized scorpion we’ve seen before,” he told both Kensi and Hetty. He watched Kensi’s eyes widen in understanding. He nodded to her and gave her an order, tilting his cell slightly to speak to Kensi, “have Eric look up the scorpion species in Colombia. Escoripo was very proud of his country from what we found out after he got away last time. I’m certain he would use one of the endemic animals… also to send a hidden message that he’s behind this. He’s fond of those messages as we know.”

They had gone up against Escorpio before. Callen himself had been taken by the man and left in a sea cave to struggle against the elements. His team had found him before he lost the fight, but they hadn’t managed to apprehend the man who had only been known as Escorpio to various authorities before he tangled with NCIS and made the mistake of going up against his team. The man’s identity had been burned. They had crippled part of his business, freezing up a large amount of his money, killing one and apprehending another of his security detail but not managing to arrest the head of the snake. Obviously, he was still very well connected and also well off considering the expensive helicopter escape just yesterday.

“Mr. Callen?” Hetty called his attention.

“Yes, Hetty?” he returned his focus to his boss and mentor.

“Nail that bastard. I want you to pull out all the stops and find him. We will not let this stand.”

He could hear the anger and grim determination in Hetty’s voice, knew that it matched his own feelings. “Understood,” he told her curtly before hanging up on her.

Kensi was watching him when he turned back to her. They shared a glance before he turned to the screen. “Eric?” he called and a moment later, the screen changed from displaying the inside of the interrogation room to their tech watching from Ops center. “Anything on the scorpion species?”

Eric nodded emphatically, “there are only two endemic scorpions in Colombia that are potentially deadly to the human and both belong to the _Centruroides_ family. I’ve just forwarded the information to Steve and he sounded relieved. According to him there’s a good antivenin for those species.”

He allowed a relieved smile to break through his masks, “that’s good news.” He sighed softly, “I know you both want to be with Nell and Deeks, but we need to finish this guy before that.” He, too, wanted to see for himself how his friends were doing, but stepping back now put them all at risk for future assassination attempts. “Eric, you especially will not leave Ops without either Kensi or me. With Nell down, we’ll be blind if you get taken out.”

“You think there are more of his men waiting for us?” Eric asked quietly.

“It’s entirely possible,” Callen nodded. “We know he’s had a close knit security team of four men back when we first had dealings with him. We took out two of them back then, but he must have replaced them by now. The fact that they knew the location of the boatshed is worrisome, but can be put down to us interrogating one of his men here back then. We put that guy in prison, where he probably talked. I don’t want to compromise Ops, so neither Kensi nor I will return to the mission for the time being.”

Kensi nodded in agreement. “What now? You think we’ll get that guy talking?” she asked, nodding her head towards the interrogation room.

“With enough time, probably,” Callen shrugged. Their time frame had eased a little now that they had managed to extract the crucial information to help their team mates. “We’ll have a go at him again in a few minutes. In the meantime, I need you to run another search, Eric. Go through our old files and pull the company logos from back then… Escorpio used fragments of a symbolized scorpion in all of his company logos. See if you can find any fragments of that same symbolized scorpion in any current company logos and if any of those are located in or around L.A.”

Eric nodded, his fingers already moving over the keyboard of his tablet. “On it.”

“You think he’s dumb enough to do that again?” Kensi asked skeptically.

“I think he’s proud, cocky and arrogant enough to do that again,” Callen corrected. “He thinks he’s superior to us and so far he’s not all wrong with that assessment.” He briefly allowed his anger to show, as well as his determination, before he carefully schooled his face neutral again, “and I think it’s time to change that.”

Xxxxxxx

Both Kensi and he had taken a few minutes to reread their files on the Escorpio case from back then, reminding themselves on the small details while Eric worked his own magic in Ops. After Eric had focused his facial recognition program on Colombia - combined with a hack job into their national database - they had a name for both their shooters. More than names for a dead and an apprehended shooter, they were waiting for the crucial information of Escorpio’s whereabouts. All three of them wanted to put that man behind bars and be done with him before heading to the hospital to check up on their partners.

They had had another go at their shooter, confronting him with the knowledge about his identity. He was nervous but still didn’t break so they left him to stew for a while longer.

Callen glanced up when the monitor flickered to life and Eric appeared. “I got a potential location,” he told them, his voice carefully excited, “there are two companies in the greater L.A. area that use pieces of the scorpion as their logo. I checked through their data and it’s a pretty safe bet that they belong to Escorpio.”

Callen straightened and beside him, he could see Kensi vibrate with tension and the need to move.

“I’ve checked and found two security cams around the warehouses they use. There was also a satellite conveniently passing over that I…” he broke off, a mildly embarrassed and mostly satisfied smile on his features.

Callen grinned, “we get it.” All of them knew that Eric sometimes used his talents in a not so much sanctioned way that got them the results desired. Legal tape could take a while to be cut through and sometimes they needed to get things done faster and without a tap dance on the legal line.

Eric returned the grin. “There are multiple heat-signatures in one of the locations and going back through the traffic cams around the area, I’ve found this...” he said and pulled up a traffic cam picture on the screen. There he was: Emanuel Alvarez, also known as Escorpio.

“Are you sure he hasn’t left the area?” Callen asked.

“As sure as I can be. I’ve got Kaleidoscope looking, but so far I’ve only got that picture showing him moving _towards_ the location about an hour ago,” Eric shrugged.

“Alright, that’s good enough for me,” Callen nodded. “Eric, we need back up at that location. Fix a meeting point two blocks over where we can set up and go through a plan of attack. Get the warehouses blueprints, etcetera… you know the drill. Have one team swing by at our secondary site across from the boatshed with clothes and gear. Kensi and I will take a swim.”

Kensi arched an eyebrow, “we will?”

Callen smirked, “oh yes, we will. I’m not planning on walking out of here to get myself shot at again. Plus, if Escorpio has this place under surveillance, they can keep an eye on ‘nothing happening here’ while we’re preparing the raid and getting the drop on them. We have a perfectly good tap door that can’t be watched from outside. Why not use it?”

She tilted her head to the side and nodded with a predatory grin that mirrored Callen’s, “I like that.”

Callen turned back to the monitor, “Eric, check the security cameras around the boatshed for anyone who’s been here for longer than they should have. If you find any such person, I want you to have them apprehended as soon as we’re closing in on the warehouse. Not earlier so as not to trip them.”

“Copy that,” Eric nodded and started typing before the monitor switched off.

“Fancy a late night swim in the moonlight?” Callen asked with a glance at Kensi.

“Let’s hope we won’t be overrun by a late night yacht cruising in said moonlight,” Kensi gave back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) And there we have it… The missing link. As of now, this story is officially the sequel to “The Hispanic” ;)  
For those of you who didn’t read that one, don’t worry, you this story works without knowledge of the previous one.
> 
> 2) the Scorpion family exists and is really potentially deadly to the human. The symptoms I had Nell and Deeks display are also real, though it's probably a bit of cherry-picking what I needed and used for the story so it fit. As I said, I'm not a physician, so that's just that *g*


	7. Chapter 7

They hadn’t been run over by a yacht. Instead, they had been met by one of their tactical teams as planned once they reached the other side of the marina. Once dry, redressed and geared-up, they sped off to where Eric had found Escorpio holed up.

The tension had been palpable in all agents present. Everyone knew that these men had gone up against them before and had ambushed three of their colleagues who were still fighting for their lives in hospital.

Callen had checked in with Hetty on the way to their target location, and she had been quietly hopeful. Sam’s stats were normalizing already. Considering Sam had just recently been shot and the venom hadn’t had much time to wreck havoc on his body, Steve said this was to be expected that he would recover fastest. Nell and Deeks both showed no further deterioration, but so far they weren’t really improving either. Their bodies had been fighting the venom for much longer though and therefore it would take longer for them to improve.

Xxxxxxx

The take-down had been somewhat anticlimactic. They had indeed surprised Escorpio and his crew of six remaining security personnel. Three of his men had been killed during the raid. Escorpio himself looked like he had just swallowed a lemon and Callen inwardly crowed in satisfaction. Finally.

He had once threatened to tie that man to a block of cement and sink it under the boatshed with him attached to it. He idly wondered if could get away with doing just that. He was rather sure Hetty would help him cover it up.

Callen glanced around the room at several open crates of weaponry. It seemed Escorpio was still in the business.

He turned back to the man with a smile. “And so we meet again. In another treasure cave,” he gestured around, “just this time it’s you facing an oncoming trial.” He allowed his amiable smile to fall, allowed all the rage and frustration to come to the fore. Another spike of satisfaction rushed through him when he saw the man recoil.

Callen turned to the tactical team leader. “Take him away. I want a full escort,” he ordered firmly, watching the man being dragged away. A full escort meant that a whole tactical team would sit practically on top of Alvarez during the transport to make sure he wouldn’t be able to escape somehow. It would be real crowded in the vehicle.

Kensi stepped up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, “you good?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Callen nodded, briefly drawing Kensi against his side in a half-hug before straightening. “Let’s finish this.”

“Mr. Callen.”

He nearly laughed when Hetty’s voice sounded in his ear. Kensi rolled her eyes and silently voiced ‘how does she do that?’ They still - after all these years - hadn’t solved that particular mystery how Hetty managed to drop in on them in just the crucial moments. “Yes, Hetty?”

“Fetch Mr. Beale from Ops please and then come to Cedars to be with your team mates.”

Callen tilted his head to the side, “we’ve got an interrogation to conduct.”

“Your place now is here,” Hetty insisted, “I will personally take care of Mr. Alvarez.”

He shared a glance with Kensi, swallowing the urge to mouth an ‘I’ll pay to see that’.

“I’m sure you can watch the recording later on,” Hetty said evenly, picking up on his thoughts without him vocalizing or even mouthing them. Sometimes he wondered just how psychic Hetty was or if she had implanted them all with some experimental technology that allowed her to read minds.

“Alright,” Callen capitulated.

Xxxxxxx

Sam threw him out and ordered him to check on the others before coming back. Steve had put Sam on bed rest and threatened to chain him to it if necessary. While his partner’s symptoms were already receding, Steve did not want him up and about. Sam’s heart rate was still slightly elevated and the less he moved, the better.

Callen did as his partner asked, trudging back out of the room to go and see the others. When he closed the door to Sam’s room, he came face to face with Steve. “How are they doing?” he asked quietly.

Steve leaned against the wall beside him. “The antivenin is working. Sam will be back on his feet in a few hours -provided I can keep him in bed that long.”

Callen grinned, “it’s usually more my style to sneak out.”

“Don’t I know it?” Steve rolled his eyes good naturedly, making them both share a quiet laugh before the physician sobered up. “Deeks and Nell are beginning to improve as well. Deeks’ oxygen stats are going up. It will take a while for the fluid that has begun filling his lungs to be cleared. He’s still on oxygen and will remain so for a while longer. His heart rate and blood pressure are slowly normalizing as well. He’s still running a slight fever, but it’s steadily decreasing.”

Callen sighed, relaxing a little. “Good. And Nell?”

Steve grimaced slightly. “She’s still heavily medicated and on the ventilator. The fever is finally beginning to go down though and she hasn’t had another seizure since we’ve administered the antivenin. I’m in contact with some specialists and we’re discussing another dose of antivenin.”

“Any idea why she’s displaying so much worse symptoms compared to Deeks? They have been shot within a few minutes of each other…” Callen queried.

Steve gave a half-shrug. “Could be two things. Either her bullet held a different concentration of the venom or it’s simply down to her physical properties. Usually with animal venoms children are at greater risk because of their smaller size.”

“Don’t let Nell hear you compare her to a child. She might not take that well,” Callen warned the other man with a small smile.

Steve tilted his head to the side, “duly noted,” he said consideringly, “still, the principle is the same. She’s smaller and has a lower body mass compared to Deeks which is probably why it took longer for Deeks to be affected by the venom and why his symptoms are not quite as grave.”

“Can I go in and see them? My partner threw me out and told me not to come back unless I checked on the others,” Callen grinned.

Steve shrugged, “sure. Kensi and Eric are already sitting with them so go ahead.”

Callen gave the other man a nod. “Thanks, Steve.” Both of them knew he didn’t mean allowing Callen to go see his friends with that comment. They shared a small smile before Callen stepped past the physician and headed to Deeks’ room.

Kensi glanced up when he entered the room and Deeks eyes too rolled over to him. His eyes were still glazed with fever and pain, but they didn’t flicker rapidly from left to right anymore like the last time he had seen Deeks when he had collapsed in the waiting room. An oxygen mask was strapped to his face and Callen could see his breathing was labored and he was straining to take in enough air despite the mask that delivered high concentrations of oxygen.

He stepped over to Deeks’ bedside, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, man. Steve says you’re doing better.” He left the sentence as half statement, half question.

Deeks gave a small nod before he sluggishly reached for the oxygen mask. Both Callen and Kensi reached for his hand, admonishing him with a soft “don’t.”

Deeks persisted though and took off the mask. “Nell?” he asked, his voice rasping and his breathing labored.

Callen moved aside when Kensi reached for the mask and readjusted it. “I just spoke to Steve. She’s beginning to improve, but the venom still has her in its grip. They are debating a second dose of antivenin. I’ll go see her next.”

Again, Deeks gave a small nod before his eyes slipped closed and he struggled to open them again. Not only Nell was still heavily impacted by what the venom had done to their bodies.

“Get some rest, Deeks,” Callen told the other man quietly before he stepped back from the bed. He gave Kensi a smile. “I’ll check in on you again later.”

“Tell Nell we’re thinking of her,” Kensi muttered, her hand entangled with her partner’s.

“I will,” Callen agreed and then left the room.

Xxxxxxx

The visit with Nell and Eric wasn’t any easier than the one with Deeks had been.

Eric had succumbed to exhaustion by the time Callen stepped into the ICU cubicle, his head bent at an uncomfortable angle while his body was somewhat awkwardly folded into the semi-comfortable looking chair. Callen stepped back out of the room and asked a passing nurse for a blanket.

Once she returned and handed him the blanket, he stepped back into the cubicle and carefully spread the blanket over Eric’s sleeping form. It was notoriously cool inside of an ICU and Eric would be feeling the cold once he woke up.

Callen sighed and stepped over to Nell. Their technical analyst was a vibrant and active person. Seeing her laid up like that, completely unresponsive and dependent on machines once more made fury spike within him.

“Hey Nellverine,” he murmured, bending down close to her so as not to disturb her sleeping partner on the other side of the bed, “the rest of the team says ‘hi’. We got the bastards that did this. So you just rest and get better, alright?!” He reached out and brushed a thumb over Nell’s forehead, feeling the still fever heated skin.

Straightening, he stepped back and away, glancing briefly over to Eric and reassuring himself that the tech hadn’t woken. He remained fast asleep.

Callen quietly left the ICU and took out his cell, calling Hetty. He needed to do something. And sitting around the hospital wasn’t it. He would go stir crazy and he knew the more he sat around, the more the anger would swamp him. They had gotten Escorpio and he wanted a pound of his flesh.

“Mr. Callen. Is there anything wrong?” Hetty asked upon establishing the connection.

“No, they are holding their own and slowly improving. Sam will be up and about in a few hours by Steve’s predictions. Deeks and Nell will take longer. Nell might need another dose of antivenin,” Callen told her, holding back on his emotions.

“I see. Thanks for the update.”

“I’m coming back in,” Callen told her, feeling she wanted to end the conversation.

There was a brief pause. “You should…”

He rarely interrupted Hetty, mostly didn’t dare, but within a few hours, he did it for a second time. “Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do,” Callen told her, his voice deceptively mild. He was holding back on his temper. “I want in on the interrogation.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Hetty said evenly. She probably knew he was close to the edge. She knew him well after all.

“Hetty, please,” Callen said softly, not above begging right now, “I can’t just sit around here. I need to do something.” He hadn’t expected to feel so restless right now, after they had apprehended Escorpio, but in the privacy of his mind, he had to admit that seeing half of his team out of commission and fighting for their lives was impacting heavily.

“Very well,” Hetty capitulated, “return to the boatshed.” With that, Hetty cut the connection.


	8. Chapter 8

He had briefly talked to his partner before leaving the hospital. Sam had looked part exasperated and part understanding. Callen could see he was itching to get back up on his feet as well but Sam hadn’t voiced a demand to be taken along… maybe because Steve had been in the room as well.

When Callen entered the boatshed, Hetty stood in the hallway. Despite her small figure, she made an imposing picture. He drew to a stop and they mustered each other in silence. He would bet money that Hetty’s masks were better right now compared to his. He gave her a small shrug that she acknowledged with a nod. Hetty turned around and stepped back into the main room, Callen following her.

She was pouring tea for both of them and beckoned him to sit down. He followed her invitation - or demand, depending on how you wanted to define it - and sank down into the chair opposite of her. Callen picked up the tea cup that Hetty placed in front of him. Both of them stirred their tea in silence, letting the repetitive motion sooth them.

Eventually, he felt Hetty’s eyes on him and Callen glanced up, preparing himself for admonishment. Instead, he saw understanding. “_Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats_,” Hetty quoted softly.

Callen put the cup down and dragged a hand through his hair. He knew Hetty was waiting on whether or not he would remember the quote. He did. “H. L. Mencken,” he muttered.

Hetty merely hummed in acknowledgement.

He leaned back in his chair and met her knowledgeable gaze. “You’re not benching me?”

“Oh, no. Mr. Callen,” Hetty shook her head and laughed softly, “you would just find a way to sneak back inside when you thought I wasn’t looking.” She sobered and her eyes were sharp and hard when she focused them on him, “still, I don’t want you inside that interrogation room. Mr. Alvarez has been a worthy opponent but you’re off your game right now and he will pounce on that weakness. No, I want you to watch on the monitors. We’ll compare notes later.” She stood up from where she sat and moved past him, her hand briefly squeezing his shoulder.

He didn’t even try to argue with her. He knew he would lose that argument, and he knew Hetty was right. His masks were in disarray and that would be a liability against a man like Escorpio. Callen picked up his tea cup once more and turned in his seat, facing the monitor that displayed the inside of the interrogation room.

He got the feeling Hetty wasn’t only allowing him to be here only for his sake, but more so that she could keep an eye on him. Right now, he didn’t mind. He felt unbalanced and actually thought that Hetty keeping a tight leash on him might be a good idea for the moment.

He picked up the remote and increased the volume, watching as Escorpio unhurriedly glanced up when the door opened, his eyes provocatively sliding up and down Hetty’s frame.

“And who might you be, little woman?”

“Our president asked the same before he quickly and graciously signed off on topping up my funding. I think he did it to get me out of the thing he calls hair,” Hetty replied mildly as she sat down.

Callen smirked and decided to lean back in his seat and let Hetty do the work. This would probably be entertaining to watch. A man as cocky and arrogant as Alvarez would underestimate Hetty - and it would be his demise.

Xxxxxxx

His hand went to his weapon when the door to the boatshed opened. Callen stood and flattened himself against the wall. They didn’t think that Escorpio had any more men outside, but he didn’t plan on being caught by surprise.

Sneaking a glance into the corridor, Callen rolled his eyes and returned his gun into the back of his pants, stepping into the doorway and watching his partner hobble into the boatshed.

“You forgot your home address?” he asked with an arched eyebrow.

Sam glanced up, shifting his weight carefully. “You’re not the only one who wants a pound of flesh.”

Callen stepped back into the main room and let Sam follow behind him, “get in line, but neither you nor I will have our wish granted… plus: Hetty doesn’t exactly need the help. She’s mostly entertaining herself with playing with him right now - reminds me of a cat toying with a mouse. Entertaining to watch though.”

Sam sank into the chair that Callen pushed towards him.

“Should you be out of the hospital already or did you take a page out of my playbook?”

Sam rolled his eyes and elevated his leg onto a second chair, “no, Steve released me.”

“To go home, certainly.”

“He… didn’t specify,” Sam hedged and Callen laughed. All of them knew how to jump through ‘legal’ loopholes and misunderstand certain orders.

“I leave the kids alone for five minutes and everything descends into mayhem,” Hetty’s voice rang out behind them, making both of them jolt in surprise. Neither of them had noticed her leaving the interrogation room.

Sam had the decency to look somewhat chastened when Hetty glared at him. “You lost your way, Mr. Hanna?” Hetty asked and Callen smirked to himself, making sure to hide his expression from his boss though, knowing he might end up in her crosshairs otherwise.

“No, Hetty. I was just… checking up on things,” Sam said slowly.

“I see,” Hetty gave back evenly, “and that couldn’t be done by phone, I’m sure.” She didn’t give Sam time to answer and instead turned back to Callen and he fought to keep his expression neutral. “Your thoughts, Mr. Callen?”

He decided to keep the mischievous ‘on Alvarez or Sam?’ to himself, knowing he could quickly end up being on Hetty’s bad side if he didn’t. “He’s holding back. He’s admitted to the crime, but there’s another reason other than keeping us occupied. He’s proven in the past that he has no scruples harming an agent to distract us from his dealings. Poisoning three agents though - especially since there was a time delay between the second and third shot - seems extreme and unnecessary. And there’s something else… you’re toying with him as much as he is toying with you.”

Hetty nodded, “I agree.”

Callen stood up, “let me go in and talk with him.”

Hetty’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t back down. He felt more settled than he had been before. Watching Hetty interrogate Alvarez had helped him focus and now with Sam’s appearance, he felt some of the worry for his team mates finally begin to fade away. He knew that Deeks and Nell had a way to go yet, but the antivenin was obviously working and Steve would take good care of them.

“How is your poker face?” Hetty asked, her eyes still not leaving him.

He smirked, “better than his will be soon,” he gave back with a tilt of his head towards the monitor.

Xxxxxxx

“Ah, Agent Callen,” Alvarez greeted when he entered the room.

Callen made sure to keep his steps even and his posture loose and relaxed. He sauntered over to the table and sat down opposite of the man, “Emanuel,” he greeted, deliberately using the man’s first name. Escorpio thought himself better than everyone around himself, so with that overly familiar address, Callen subtly nudged him off his pedestal, especially since the man had greeted him with his official title.

He leaned back and enjoyed the tightening of Alvarez’ expression. This time they met on a different playground. Last time, Callen had been at a serious disadvantage. This time, their roles were reversed… well, not quite since Callen didn’t have hired muscle to punch his opponent if he didn’t like the answers. On second thought, he guessed he could ask Sam to come inside to take over that role.

It only took moments before Alvarez had himself back under control and his features smoothed into a lazy grin, leaning back as well and mirroring Callen’s posture. “It has been a while,” he grinned, “last time we met you planned on going for a swim. How did that work for you? How’s the hand?”

He had expected the dig, so was prepared and outwardly remained bored, “it was refreshing. The hand is well. My stats firing left handed improved massively though. I have you to thank for that.”

Again, Alvarez’ expression tightened when he didn’t rise to the bait. Callen found he was beginning to enjoy himself and he smirked. “So, Emanuel, you ready to tell the truth?”

“I already told your tiny granny what she wanted to know.”

“You lied,” Callen shrugged.

Alvarez tilted his head to the side in contemplation. “You’re not going to defend her honor? The great Agent Callen…” he broke off when Callen laughed, obviously confused by the agent’s reaction.

“Did she look like she needed anyone defending her?” Callen asked, his eyes sparkling with amusement. He leaned forward, his forearms on the table, his hands loosely clasped together. “A few words of warning… first: whatever you heard about her feats, it’s a lie. No tales compare to the reality. And second: if she so inspires, she can make your life a living hell, so I would be careful with calling her names.” Callen waited, watching the other man. He could see the cogs turning and watched as his words impacted, watched the calculating suspicion settle. Alvarez had a lot of contacts and he was a clever man. Right now, the man was wondering just how much he had underestimated Hetty so far.

“Back to you lying to my boss,” Callen nudged, “we can put you away with or without the truth. I’m wondering why you’re holding back though.”

The calculating gleam that Callen had first seen two years ago - when he had been abducted by the man and stuck into a sea cave - was back. He mentally prepared himself for the man’s games. “How are your team mates?” Alvarez asked, a lot of satisfaction swinging in his voice.

“My partner is chomping at the bit to kick your ass,” Callen shrugged. He glanced up to the camera in the corner of the room, “he’s outside by the way. And my ‘tiny granny’ as you called her is the only thing holding him back right now.”

Alvarez followed his glance to the camera and Callen saw a subtle narrowing of his eyes… a sliver of doubt and worry before the bluster came back. “I doubt that. He’ll be in hospital fighting _whatever_ is ailing him.”

Callen grinned. “It’s your funeral,” he shrugged and sat back, crossing one leg over the other, inwardly counting down the seconds.

Sam was actually two seconds earlier than he would have expected considering his gunshot wound, throwing the door open and striding into the room, almost completely hiding the way he was favoring his leg.

Alvarez shrunk back when Sam prowled towards him.

“Sam,” Callen warned, his voice sharp, making his partner draw to a stop. For one, he felt that Sam was unbalanced and in a similar mental state as he had been earlier, ready to take his frustrations out on Alvarez - and he didn’t want the man to walk away on a technicality. And for another thing, Sam was injured and not at his full strength. In a worst case scenario, Alvarez might take advantage of that. He didn’t _think_ Alvarez was a man who knew how to fight, used to hiding behind his bodyguards instead, but he didn’t _know_ that for sure and he wouldn’t risk it.

When Sam turned towards him, Callen nodded towards the chair in the corner of the room and Sam wordlessly stepped back and moved to where Callen had sent him.

He saw the glance Alvarez shot them and knew this display had only ascertained his position as lead-agent in the man’s eyes. It was something the man understood… dominance and leadership over other men. It was something he respected even though they were on different sides of the law.

“So, Sam is here, ready to lay into you and our colleagues will be discharged soon. The antivenin is working nicely,” Callen said evenly. He watched and saw the moment those news were understood, the moment that Alvarez saw that he didn’t have any advantage anymore. And suddenly, he knew why Alvarez had held back… the man thought he would have a trump card to play, a get-out-of-jail-free card when they were desperate enough to beg for a counter agent for their team mates.

He immediately pounced on that information, instantly knew where to take this interrogation now. “Yeah, that’s right, Emanuel,” Callen told the other man calmly, some satisfaction oozing into his voice despite his best attempt to control it, “we know the bullets were coated with scorpion venom. All three of my team have received the antivenin. Your advantage just vanished.”

There was a somewhat startled and astonished expression on Alvarez’ features. The man had not expected this, had not expected to be left empty-handed. Callen felt he was only moments away from unraveling everything and he knew he needed to follow through now, before Alvarez regained his composure and balance. Still, he had to be careful on how to get the man to talk, to not put too much pressure onto him. “So, Emanuel,” he started, his words quiet and gentle, “want to tell me why we are here?”

There was a pause, stillness settling over the room and Callen reigned his impatience in, firmly locking it down. He hoped that Sam behind him would do the same, knew this was the critical moment and one wrong move could topple things back into Alvarez being stroppy and digging his heels in. He gave his partner a subtle sign, just a shift of his leg in a particular direction, to make certain that Sam knew what he wanted him to do. They had worked out many small signs in their long partnership that had allowed them to communicate without words and it had served them well on many occasions.

A moment later, the tension in the room seemed to deflate. The previous superiority and cockiness had left their opponent and he was staring down at the table in front of him, his eyes lost in the distance of a memory. “You killed Louis,” the man said quietly.

The fact that he had read up on their old files, on the case two years ago, made the puzzles fall into place quickly. Louis Gomez, the bodyguard that had been killed back in their first tangling with Escorpio. What little they had been able to find, was that Escorpio and his original crew of four bodyguards had grown up together and were a tight group. Escorpio was the natural leader, the other four followed him. While they were mostly muscle, they were in return also protected by their boss.

“And Juan is in prison,” Callen supplied quietly, a soft and subtle nudge to continue talking when Alvarez fell silent.

The man glanced up at Callen and gave a half shrug, “he can take care of himself. Louis didn’t deserve those bullets though.”

Callen guessed both Sam and he were working hard to keep their features neutral and not go into attack mode. Louis had come at them with a machine gun on automatic burst. The man had taken three bullets to the chest when they had taken him down. He swallowed back those words, instead kept his features neutral, “Louis was the youngest,” Callen said, mentally reviewing the few photos of the group they had been able to find, noticing for the first time that Alvarez and Louis stood side by side in each one of them, “he was like a younger brother to you.” It was simple deduction.

“You know why they call me ‘Escorpio’?” Alvarez asked.

Callen wondered if they were losing the flow of the interrogation again, if the man was regaining his wits, and going off on another tangent, but he held his tongue, waiting to see where this would lead.

“In many myths, a scorpion is perceived as both an embodiment of evil and a protective force that counters evil. My people are loyal to me not because they fear me as so many other people in similar employment of other men in my trade. They are loyal to me because I take care of them,” Alvarez explained. “You killed one of mine…” he said slowly and darkly as he trailed off.

Callen tilted his head to the side, deciding to give another careful nudge, “and you couldn’t let that stand.”

“You know; scorpions are wondrous animals. They can control the potency of their venom depending on whether it is for defending itself or killing prey,” the man mused slowly before he once more looked up at Callen. This time, his eyes were hard and his expression ruthless. “Which one do you think it was when I had your colleagues shot one by one?” he asked, his voice fierce and dripping malice.

“So there was no other reason for this than revenge?” Callen asked, his own tone of voice cold. He could feel Sam vibrating with tension and the barely restrained urge to attack behind him.

Alvarez stuck out his jaw stubbornly, as if about to answer, but then turned his head away instead.

It was as if a curtain fell and the silence rolled around the room. Callen knew the interrogation was done. They wouldn’t get anything more from the man. Callen stood and motioned for Sam to do the same, watching his partner struggling to hide the wince when he got up. He gently pushed Sam towards the door and followed, leaving the room without a backwards glance.

Hetty was waiting for them in the main room. “Well done, Mr. Callen,” she told him quietly, offering praise probably for both: keeping it together and getting the man to talk.

He just nodded his thanks, his mind still on the interrogation.

Sam sighed and sank back into the chair he had occupied before coming into the interrogation room. “All this just for revenge,” he muttered.

Hetty turned towards him and put a hand on his shoulder, “people have killed for less, Sam,” she reminded him gently, “let’s revel in the knowledge that his plan failed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright folks. That’s basically it. Just a short Epilogue to finish things up.


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last installment... and Merry Christmas everyone!

Soft laughter welcomed them when Callen and Sam made their way into the hospital room that held their colleagues. They glanced at each other before stepping inside, observing the display in front of them.

Deeks and Eric had hooked up a gaming console and were playing against each other, laughing while they tried besting each other. Kensi and Nell were offering more or less helpful advice on how to best the other team.

Nell’s eyes were still dull with fatigue, but she was awake and off the ventilator. That was more than anyone had expected as of yet. The second dose of antivenin had given her recovery a strong boost.

Deeks’ too had recovered in leaps and bounds within the twenty four hours since they had seen them last. According to Steve, Deeks would be free to go by the next morning. Nell would have to stay for a while longer, but considering how rapidly she was improving, the prognosis was also very good.

Seeing them with his own eyes helped alleviate the inherent worries that had remained with Callen while they closed the case and made sure Alvarez would be going away for a long time. The ATF, the FBI and several more agencies were circling like vultures, each clamoring for a chance to have a go at the man as well. Alvarez had crossed a lot of people and agencies.

Callen took a sip of the coffee he held, several more cups balanced inside the holder he carried with his other hand.

Deeks was the first to notice them. “Well, look what the cat dragged in,” he grinned and Callen had a brief flashback to two years ago when the same words had been directed at him by the Detective. He had just made his escape from sickbay on the Coast Guard Cutter after his team mates had brought him out of the sea cave.

Callen arched an eyebrow. “That was more effective last time when I was the one just out of sickbay,” he told Deeks with a smirk.

The Detective laughed, only to start coughing moments later, his lungs not yet quite recovered from having been filled with fluid as the venom wrecked havoc on his body. Kensi moved and drew her partner up, making him sit up on the bed and take deep breaths.

“We’ll continue this later,” Deeks rasped when he got his breath back.

“Mh-hmmm. I’m sure,” Callen gave back with a grin before he pushed away from the wall he had perched against. He handed out the cups of coffee, latte and whatever respective favorite beverage he had brought for their colleagues.

Sam had already sunken into a chair, sighing softly. His leg was bothering him, but as always, the man was stoic about it and mostly ignoring it.

Callen handed Nell her drink and gave her a smile which she returned, “good to see you conscious again,” he told her softly.

“Thanks to you guys,” she gave back quietly.

Callen smiled and shook his head. “Nah. You held your own pretty well,” he said gently.

Kensi had settled herself beside Deeks on the bed and looked between Sam and Callen. “Case closed?”

With all chairs occupied, Callen decided to park himself at the foot of Nell’s bed, doubting she would mind. “Yeah, case closed. He’s going down hard. The FBI is making themselves useful for once and have started rounding up all his money. ATF is like a pack of wolves. They lost several agents to Escorpio last year and are crying for vengeance. Hetty is negotiating with the heads of several agencies over who gets what rights and privileges. We’ll mostly be left out of it, but still Alvarez is going away for a long time.”

“Good,” Deeks muttered, echoing all of their combined thoughts. He raised his coffee cup. “To the best team on this planet.”

All of them raised their cups, echoing quiet but strong, “to the team.”

Callen watched with pride as they sat together, drinking their respective drinks, cherishing the fact that they still had this. They had been tested, had come close to being bested but had pulled through with determination and strength born from loyalty and familial ties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright... that's it. Another piece finished. Thanks for all your comments and kudos. I hope you enjoyed the ride :)


End file.
